The State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ silence on the July 10 clemency it granted a death-row inmate in a 1991 murder case has stirred strong emotions in North Georgia, with ripple effects possibly leading to the doors of the 2015 General Assembly. “I think that we, as a state, owe the family an explanation why that sentence didn’t get carried out,” said state Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, adding that the lack of a reason is “tragic.” The five-member board’s decision to commute Tommy Lee Waldrip for his part in the murder of Keith Lloyd Evans to life in prison without parole evoked strong reaction by itself.